Sisterhood of the Green Pants!

If you all have been with us since the beginning (May 9th, 2014) - you will remember that our goals were to be 200/160, look skinny in our first ever formal photographs, and for me to fit into the green pants that I wore the night I re-met Mark in Lakewood in 2005.

SOOOOooo....I am at 162.5 per the doctor this week (second opinion from a reliable scale - which is nice) 

AND I tried on the famous Size 10T Green Pants that I have loved and lost over the last 10 years...

Today - 12/13/14 - THEY FIT!!!

 And not just fit, but have a little room in the bucket to spare!!  Check out that bucket!

Today's Measurements as well:

Leg - 22.5" - THAT IS ONE WHOLE INCH - no wonder the pants fit!

Hips - 38" still

Waist - 30" still

Boobs - 34" - lost an inch - not exactly where I want to lose, but okay...

Arm - 12" still

Yipee!  Now just have to keep it going to get to 160 and to not blow the whole thing over the holidays...even though I love all the fudge & cookies!!!

On a weirder note - at my annual physical, my pulse was 42 (normal is 60-100) and my blood pressure was 90/58 (normal is below 120/80).  My doctor didn't seem too concerned because I didn't have any other side effects of low pulse (fainting, chest pains, etc.) but she still did an EKG at the office - the second time, my pulse was 51...still low, but all the peaks & valleys looked normal.  She said it is possible that all the healthy living and working out has made my heart super effecient - she said that is common in healthy young adults (I am old though) and MARATHON RUNNERS (absolutely not me!!!) to have low pulses.

I will post my Cholesterol & blood work stuff when I get it back to compare to my Dec 2013 numbers - to see if our lifestyle change has improved that stuff too.

HEALTH!  It is something else!

Wurstfest = Not Good for Waistline Fest

So I have been back from 2 weeks of work travel & Wurstfest now for 1 week.

While we were gone, I gained 5.7 lbs when I weighed in on 11/13.

I weighed on 11/15 and I had lost 5.1 lbs...okay, sure.  Then I weighed in yesterday 11/19 and I had gained 2.2 lbs.

So now I think I am 165 lbs.  Not terrible, but not at all good...

And we have not truly worked out in 3 weeks!  NO!  We did a lot of walking and did one core exercise session at Wurstfest, but the food & beer cancelled out any good we did.

SO now what?

Well - I need to re-motivate myself.  If I can get back into it, set some goals, pick up where we left off - then Mark will get back to it too - I am the motivator & hitter of the snooze button.

Re-motivating Goals:

Kris

• By New Year's Eve be at 160 lbs - fit into sexy new NYE dress!!
• Workout 3 x per week - 20 minutes on elliptical & NEW core/arm/leg exercises. 
• No Sugar (yes this includes my new found love of hot cocoa!)
• Less Carbs
• Less Dairy
• Less Alcohol - too cold to drink beer right now anyway...
• No restaurants! No money for that anyway...

Mark 

• Get down to 200 lbs - he needs to be as low as possible to buy his brand new Christmas $ wardrobe - jeans, shirts, sweaters, undies, undershirts, socks.
• Stop late night snacking
• Pump up intensity on his elliptical workout.

Keeps getting better...

Weigh In Results October 28th, 2014

I won't go into too much detail, but I am just simply amazed at our weight loss progress!  It turns out eating right and exercising really is the key...they weren't lying!

Still avoiding dairy, red meat, bad carbs, no sugar and limiting alcohol - working out 2 or 3 times a week at the JCC...and the results are...

Kris = 162.5 - lost another 1.5 lbs this week!! 2.5 lbs to go to goal weight of 160!!
Mark = 213.4 - gained .2 lbs this week...but still going strong - he knows what to do!

Go Team!

Weight Loss Status Update - Oct 20th 2014

Mark and I have finally become "people who work out", which is something I never thought we would be.  They say that if you do something for 28 days it becomes a habit.  We have been going to the JCC since August, so I guess we are good to go!  I have my little outfits and Mark has his headphones.  We print out 20 minute workouts from the internet and increase intensities.  Who would have thought??

We actually like going to the JCC and trying new workouts and especially seeing the results...Like THESE:

Current weight is 164!! 
May 16th starting weight of 180.6 = total lost so far = 16.6 lbs!!!!
My Chest = 35 inches
My Waist = 30!
My Hips = 38! (Lost another 2 inches - total of 3 inches!!!)
My Thigh  23.5!
Arm = 12!

Mark's current weight is 213.2!!
May 16th starting weight of 228.3 = total lost so far = 15.1 lbs!!!!
Mark's Chest = 45.5!
Mark's Waist = 30!
Mark's Hips = 39!
Mark's Thigh = 23!
Mark's Arm = 13.5!

Amazing stuff!

Next, I plan to work a little more on my legs to get them toned and get rid of this stupid cellulite...I assumed it would go away more when I got skinnier, but apparently not.  Need to tone up these thighs ankles and calves!

Still living the dream...

So, even though we have successfully had our first ever formal photo shoot (which was our goal to be skinny in the photos), Mark and I are continuing on our weight loss path.

As of this morning, I am 166 lbs - only 6 lbs away from my goal weight.  At one point, I was 164, but then travel, Columbus Oktoberfest, & Michelman celebrations/lunches destroyed that progress.

I have 1 month until Wurstfest, so I will need to really buckle down to get to 160 lbs before I drink & eat like a fool again!

We have been working out still - treadmill for 20 mins, arms, legs & abs - then walking 1 mile - two or three times a week at the JCC.  I know it is working because my abs are killing me right now!

Everyone comments on Mark being skinnier, but no one says anything about me...oh well...I am doing this for me & my health, not compliments!

Go team!

Advocare Challenge Final Results!!!

So here we go folks!!  The results are in and....We both WON!!!

Below are our AFTER photos right next to our BEFORE...Kind of hard to tell, but...if you click on the photo, it is a little bigger.  I think we both look less jowl-y - which was a big goal!!

 AFTER

 BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

My final weight was 168.2 (vs. 172.2) - Lost 4 lbs in 24 days!  
May 16th starting weight of 180.6 = total lost so far = 12.4 lbs!!!!
My Chest stayed 36 inches
My Waist went from 31.5 to 30.5!
My Hips went from 41 to 40!
My Thigh went from 24.5 to 23.5!
And my flabby arms are slightly less flabby at 12.75" (vs. 13) - and arms seem more toned!

Mark's final weight was 214.6 (vs. 219.8) - Lost 5.2 lbs in 24 days!!!
May 16th starting weight of 228.3 = total lost so far = 13.7 lbs!!!!
Mark's Chest went from 46.5 to 45.5
Mark's Waist stayed the same at 42 inches
Mark's Hips went from 41 to 40 (holy crap...Mark and I have the same hips!!)
Mark's Thigh increased a little from 22 to 22.75 - must be muscle!
and we didn't measure his arms because he has muscle and no flab already!

All in all, very cool!!  Except for my stomach issues and our TERRIBLE will power (we suck)...I think the results are great!

I would probably do the Cleanse Phase again, but probably not the Max Phase.

Still can't button my Green Size 10 Goal Pants...so still some work to do - Back to working out and eating right!

BIG Thanks to Lauren Finn for showing us how it is done and for all of the encouragement!!  And Thank you to Advocare too!!

SPARK!!!

Last Day of Advocare 24 Day Challenge!!

Okay...I admit it...I kind of went off the plan for the last 5 days :(

My stomach was killing me - I guess that is one way to control appetite & lose weight, but not a fun way.

So I tried to keep up with the food plan and we did great working out.  I did Spark in the morning also.  But I stopped taking all of the pills.

Mark has a cast iron stomach so he is finishing out the challenge...and may extend a few days using my pills and shakes...

On the positive side, I did my measuring early - I lost an INCH on all the measurements except the chest (which is good...because I need to keep all the chest I have!).  Very happy with these results!!!  AN INCH on my waist, hips and thighs!!!  YES!  I also measured my flabby arm and lost 1/4 inch...still working on that.

So tomorrow, I will post Mark's measurement results plus our final weigh in results.

I am going to add coffee back in as that is one of the joys of my life...it has been tough not having that in the morning.  And beer during Oktoberfest season will probably be out of hand...but that will be my splurge.)

The plan is to keep limiting dairy, fat, red meat & carbs per the Advocare guidelines - we pretty much do that anyway.  We will try to limit going out to eat...as that is when we make REALLY bad choices.